Options for a new primary computer device

I am currently a MacBook, Ipad, and Iphone user. I have a long history with Windows based PCs.

I use my Ipad for much of my image file processing and management, moving my files eventually because of storage limitations to a large external hard disk. I am beginning to use Adobe's Creative Cloud software suite.

My question is this. My home PC is failing. I need to make a buying decision about a new primary computing device. I am considering an inexpensive desktop PC or laptop as well as some radical ideas. The radical idea is this. I have heard good things about the Microsoft Surface Pro. It seems as though the Pro can use my Adobe software and be portable as well as docked at home to be used similar to a standard PC.

Does anyone have experience with the Microsoft Surface Pro and what do you like, dislike, and other comments to make about the Microsoft tablet?

I have not had a "box" computer for maybe 15 years. My "primary" has been a laptop or tablet with docks, keyboards, and monitors at our two homes and at work. This completely eliminates the issue of not having "my stuff' with me when I am away from home or work.

I spent the last couple of years watching and waiting for a good Win8 tablet computer, thinking that would be the upgrade path from my Fujitsu P1610. As Win8 came out and the tablets started to appear, I found none of them to be attractive. When I heard that Microsoft had taken almost half of the Surface's disk space for itself, that was the last straw. I bought an off-lease Fujitsu P1630 running Win7, added a fast SSD, and will be on that platform for the next few years. It isn't the fastest LR/PS machine, but it is adequate for my needs and extremely portable.

That said, with MS's discounting of the Surface product and the rumored Surface replacement on the horizon, either may be an opportunity for you. But regardless of the computer, I think docking is the way to go. There's nothing radical about it.

Re backup/overflow, I have two 1TB NAS boxes on our home network. Photos are stored on them, mirrored. Automated backups from both my wife's and my docked computers also go to one of them. Occasionally I'll archive the photos to a stack of DvDs, too. IMHO using a USB drive and manually doing backups is a recipe for not doing them often enough. At least for me it would be.